Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 471
حَدَّثَنَا حَرَمِيُّ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ كَثِيرِ بْنِ عُبَيْدٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى عَائِشَةَ أُمِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، فَقَالَتْ: أَمْسِكْ حَتَّى أَخِيطَ نَقْبَتِي فَأَمْسَكْتُ فَقُلْتُ: يَا أُمَّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، لَوْ خَرَجْتُ فَأَخْبَرْتُهُمْ لَعَدُّوهُ مِنْكِ بُخْلاً، قَالَتْ: أَبْصِرْ شَأْنَكَ، إِنَّهُ لاَ جَدِيدَ لِمَنْ لاَ يَلْبَسُ الْخَلَقَ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Harami ibn Hafs said: ‘Abd al-Wahid related to us; Sa‘id ibn Kathir ibn ‘Ubayd related to us and said: My father told me: I visited ‘A’isha, Mother of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with her. She said, “Wait until I sew my garment’s tear.” So I waited, then said, “Mother of the Believers, if I went out and told them, they would count it as stinginess on your part.” She said, “Mind your own business. There is nothing new for one who does not wear the worn-out.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The closing saying is proverbial: new clothing is not possible for someone unwilling to wear out old clothing.
إِنَّهُ لاَ جَدِيدَ لِمَنْ لاَ يَلْبَسُ الْخَلَقَ
This appears to be a proverbial statement about wearing out old clothes before having new ones.
Should the saying be rendered more freely as ‘one cannot have new clothes without wearing out the old’?